Closer to being human
by NeoKenshin
Summary: Oneshot:After defeating Wily for the 9th time, Megaman starts to understand being human more and more. Eventually he discovers one of the greatest human emotions...Love. Probably the first Megaman/Splash Woman pairing.


Well since Megaman 9 had just been released earlier this week, it brought about a plethora of new aspects to the game, namely the appearance of the very first Female Robot Boss, Splash Woman. Well this is what really happened at the end of the game...

Disclaimer: Megaman and all respective characters are owned by Capcom.

* * *

Megaman was breathing hard after another mindless battle with his nemesis Dr. Wily. It was bad enough that he was forced to fight off some of Dr. Light's most helpful robots, but having to fight off Wily time and time again was just getting old. This time he was going to put a stop to this once and for all.

"I've had it with you Wily! I've given you chance after chance to repent and become good, but each time you still try to take over the world," said Mega, as he had his Mega Buster pointed at the pleading doctor. "I'm going to make sure the world never has to deal with your evil ever again!"

"Megaman you fool, you can't kill me." Wily laughed. "Have you forgotten the number one rule that all robots must follow?"

Megaman was at his limit. Wily was right. All robots had to follow the rule to never kill a human. And as a keeper of the peace and justice, he had to follow that rule. But there was something different about Megaman. Unlike other robots, he had the choice to make decisions for himself. And he knew the decision he was going to make wouldn't defy that rule.

"GAA!!" screamed Wily as an energy shot from Megaman's Mega Buster pierced through his shoulder.

"You were right Wily. I can't kill you. But there's nothing that says I can't make you feel pain for all those you have harmed. Be they human or robot, your evil has caused nothing but pain and sorrow, and now it's time you feel what you have inflicted." Megaman said coldly. "Now I'm going to say this one last time…I never want to see you in this city ever again. Leave and never come back." With that he turned and walked away from the doctor, leaving him to think about his future.

"You may strike me down now Megaman, but I swear this, I will return. And I will destroy you!!" Wily screamed. Megaman made no effort to look at the pathetic doctor, and didn't see him take a remote control from his lab coat. "Oh and I also happen to know something else…you happen to be quite fond of one of Light's robots."

Megaman heard this and knew…he was talking about Splash Woman. Over the past years Megaman and Splash had become very good friends, with Megaman going to the seaside every day to see her. She always enjoyed his company and even liked to sing for him as well. It really hurt him however when he found out that she had been reprogrammed by Wily, and he was forced to fight her. Unlike the other robots, Megaman didn't destroy her; only disable her, hoping that Dr. Light could repair her.

"Wily, what are you talking about? What are you planning to do to Splash?" he asked.

"You see, before I reprogrammed her, I happened to take a good look into her memory banks. I know she took quite a liking to you, all the times you went to see her at the seaside. I even know she began to have thoughts of getting modified so that she could go back on land as well as the ocean." Wily cackled. That's why I put a little failsafe inside her."

"You did what?" asked Megaman, starting to feel some slight anger arise.

"That's right Megaman; I placed a virus inside her. Once I press this button, the virus will activate, and her entire memory will be completely destroyed! She'll be nothing but a useless shell of her former self!" Wily laughed as he pressed the button on the remote. "I told you Megaman, I always get the last laugh!"

"Wily, NO!" screamed Megaman as he fired his Buster. He destroyed the remote but it was too late. Within seconds he received a transmission over his communicator.

"Megaman! It's Splash! Something's happening to her!" cried Roll as she saw the mermaid robot cry in pain.

"Roll, Wily implanted a virus in her to wipe her memory. You have to do something to stop it!" commanded Megaman. "Don't let her memory be destroyed!"

Roll panicked. She had no idea what to do, since she was just a housekeeping robot. "Megaman, I…I don't know what to do! Even Auto is confused!"

"I'm sending Rush. Take the data file of Wily's plans and get Dr. Light out of jail as fast as possible!" Megaman said, pressing another button on his arm. His faithful canine Rush soon appeared near him. "Alright boy, get to Roll as fast as you can, and get her to Dr. Light. Take this file and go quickly." He put the file into a small slot in Rush's back as the robo-dog changed into jet form.

"Arf!" barked Rush as he sped off out of the base.

"Wily…you're not human…you're a monster!" Megaman screamed as he turned to see his nemesis inside his floating pod. "I take back what I said about you leaving and never coming back. I'm going to destroy you right now and rid the world of you once and for all!"

"Ha! You're still naïve boy!" Wily said, rising higher in the air. "If I were you, I'd try to save the core memories of Dr. Light's other robots, unless you would rather watch them die in the explosion of this base."

Megaman was at a loss. Wily had covered his tracks yet again. Mega knew he couldn't let Dr. Light's other robots be destroyed. They had done too much good in the world, and deserved to be back online. "This isn't over Wily." He quickly pressed a button on his Mega Buster to switch his weapons. His armor instantly became blue and yellow as he took aim with the one weapon he had hoped would get some form of retribution on Wily. "Hope this works. Don't give up on me Splash…LASER TRIDENT!" A glowing trident formed at the shot out of his Mega Buster, flying full speed towards Wily's saucer. It quickly passed through the ship, damaging the engines, but not destroying them. "It's enough for now. But now I have to make sure the other robots will be ok." With that he quickly ran to the computer and began to download all of the core memories for the other seven robots.

Wily's base was quickly going up in flames as Megaman finished getting the last of the core memories. All that was left now was to get out of there. Quickly entering a code sequence, he teleported out of the base as it finally exploded. "As much as I'd love to stay and watch this place burn, I have to get back!" With that, he quickly took off at full speed, heading back to Dr. Light's lab, in the hopes that Splash would survive.

* * *

About an hour later, Megaman arrived, rushing full speed into the lab. When he arrived…

Roll turned to him, crying as she and Auto were next to a motionless Splash Woman. "Megaman…we weren't fast enough!"

"No…she can't be gone…she just can't!" Megaman said frantically as he rushed to the mermaid robot's side. "Come on Splash, snap out of it! Wake up!" He shook her constantly, hoping it would spark something in her system, maybe even cause her to reboot, but he got nothing. "No…This didn't…" Roll was in tears as she saw the pain on her brother's face. She had tried to get Dr. Light back in time, but the moment they got in, the virus had done its work.

"Megaman, I'm so sorry!" Roll said from her tears.

"It's not your fault." Megaman said, removing his helmet. "It was that monster Wily. I should have killed him when I had the chance."

Roll had never seen this side of her brother. She knew that Megaman always fought his hardest to stop Dr. Wily, but to hear him say that he should have killed him? Did he forget the first rule of all robots? "Megaman, what are you saying!"

"I'm saying Wily isn't a human being. He's a monster that needed to be removed from this world and I let him get away again." Megaman said coldly. "He's inflicted pain, sorrow, and harm to humans and robots alike…and he even killed Splash. As far as I'm concerned, the first rule of robots no longer applies to him." He turned to look at his lifeless friend, starting to notice a slight pain in his chest cavity. "The moment I see him, I will kill him on sight." He took hold of Splash's hand and gripped it tightly. "I promise I will avenge you Splash…someday." After he made his vow, he noticed the gem on Splash's helmet begin to glow as a holo-transmission of herself began to play. It seemed she had made a message to Megaman…

"_Megaman, I hope that you will never have to watch this, but if you do…then it means I'm gone. I want to say I'm sorry for everything. I was a fool to think that Wily could help save me from getting scrapped after my usefulness was up. I should have come to you first, knowing that you and Dr. Light could have done more for me. I don't know how he persuaded me, but I know I was a fool for it. I never ever thought I would end up fighting you like I did, and honestly a part of me wished you would have destroyed me so I could have paid for my crimes. But you had to show me mercy, Megaman. That's who you are. I just wish I could have thanked you in person for always coming to see me every day. You don't know how much it meant to me to get to sing for you. But I also felt a little sad. I know that we had been built with emotion chips in our system, and I think that I had started to learn of the emotion humans called love. I only wish I had another chance. I'm sorry Megaman…goodbye forever." _

The transmission ended as Megaman let go of her lifeless hand. His entire system was in confusion after seeing the transmission. For the first time in his life, he didn't know what to think. Did his emotion sensors go haywire? "Why? Why did it have to be you? I was made to protect people and robots, but why did you have to be the one I couldn't save!"

"Megaman, she's gone…we can't do anything else." Roll said, trying her hardest to comfort her brother.

"How is it that I was able to get all the core memories of the other seven robots, but not hers!" he said in rage, slamming his fist into the wall. "It wasn't supposed to happen this way!"

"Megaman, you're not thinking rationally. Calm down," said Dr. Light as he entered to see the blue bomber in rage.

"How can I be calm? That monster Wily is still out in the world, Splash is dead, and I couldn't do anything to prevent either of it from happening!" Megaman screamed. "Why am I feeling all of this right now? I'm so enraged at Wily for his crimes, I feel like my power generator wants to explode because Splash is gone, what is this!"

"Megaman, it is simply emotion. You feel rage from Wily, and you feel pain and grief from losing Splash Woman. It's what humans feel all the time." Dr. Light said. "There is nothing wrong with you. Roll is the same way. She felt the pain and grief when Splash went offline as well."

"But what about Splash? She didn't deserve this! You built her to be one of the most helpful robots, and people loved her! Everyone at the seaside loved hearing her sing, and she kept people safe all the time, and for what! For the chance to learn more about humans, then to be scrapped!" Megaman replied. "This doesn't make sense!"

"Megaman…" Dr. Light said, before Megaman stormed out of the lab. He simply sighed as he knew this was what he wanted for Megaman, to begin to feel more and more human each day, but not to feel this kind of pain.

"Will he be ok Dr. Light?" asked Roll as she dried more of her tears.

"I hope so. But in the meantime, I have work to do." Dr. Light said. "Megaman got the other seven core memories back, and I need to repair the other robots."

"But what about Splash? Is there anything you can do for her?" asked the girl robot.

"I don't know. I can try to create her a new core memory, but if I did, she would remember nothing about Megaman. And here she goes and discovers that she loves him, only to never get the chance to express that." Dr. Light said, examining the offline mermaid bot.

"She…loved him?" Roll said in question. "But how?"

"You should know Roll. You and her have the same emotion system. Do you know how you feel about Megaman, Rush, Tango, Beat, Auto, Eddie, and myself?" asked the doctor.

"Well yeah, I love all of you. You're my family." Roll replied. "You're all special to me. Even though I'm a robot, I still love you all."

"And that's how Splash felt about Megaman. Over time she learned that Megaman's constant visits, the fact that he enjoyed her presence, her singing, all those slowly developed into love for him. And I have a feeling Megaman was the same way. Remember when he said he felt like his power generator was going to explode?" replied Dr. Light. "Well that was exactly what it felt like to have a broken heart. Splash slowly became someone he cared for just as much as the rest of us, but he never got to reveal those feelings for her."

"Oh Megaman…" Roll said.

Over the next week, Dr. Light was able to fully rebuild Tornado Man, Concrete Man, Galaxy Man, Magma Man, Hornet Man, Plug Man, and Jewel Man. He even did some upgrades to make sure they would never be scrapped, or even reprogrammed without his consent. Afterwards he spent the rest of his time in his lab, coming trying to figure out some way to restore Splash Woman. Even after fully disassembling her, he found nothing. No trace of any memory whatsoever. He was just about to give up when he noticed something inside her chest cavity.

"What's this?" he said, noticing a disk. It looked slightly scratched, but it was still readable. He placed it in his computer and was shocked at the information. "Hmm, looks like she got some very valuable information before she left."

* * *

As for Megaman, he hadn't been seen in over a week, mostly because he went back to the remains of Wily's base, trying to find anything that could bring back Splash Woman to him. His efforts though, were unsuccessful.

"This isn't right! She should still be here!" screamed the blue warrior.

"Still mourning I see," said a familiar voice. Megaman turned to see his brother Protoman standing before him. "I knew I'd find you here."

"Protoman, what are you doing here?" asked Megaman. "Did Dr. Light send you?"

"Since when have I done things for Dr. Light. You know I follow my own path." Protoman said. "And I can see you have started following your own as well."

"Whatever. Look I'm busy right now so if you have nothing to say, then…" Megaman said before he was cut off.

"You know she wouldn't want you to feel like this." Protoman replied. "She would want you to keep doing what you do best, saving lives and protecting the world."

"And how would you know what she wanted!" screamed Megaman. "You knew nothing about her!"

"That's where you're wrong brother. I knew she loved you, as you did her." Protoman replied as he turned to look into the sunset. "Why else would you go to the seaside every single day just to see her."

"I…I don't know what you're talking about. I liked to hear her sing, and she enjoyed singing for me, so that's why I went to see her." Megaman replied. "You must be crazy!"

"Look little brother, I know for a fact that you're not overheating, so it's obvious you're blushing." Protoman laughed as he saw his brother try and cover his tracks. "You know you should be happy you felt that way. You're taking the Dr.'s research to all new levels."

"What! How can you say something like that!" Megaman retorted. "Are you trying to make me feel worse than I already am now?"

"You mean make you feel more and more human…like Dr. Light wanted for all robots?" Protoman asked. "You should know for a fact that you, me, and Roll are his pride and joy, and he hopes that we will help him make this world a better place for robot and human alike."

Megaman simply turned back to the rubble, "Tell me Protoman, have you ever felt…this pain called grief. Have you ever fallen in love?"

"No, that's not my style. I am a drifter. Though I do understand and know of those emotions. I know how people feel when they are in love. They are willing to do anything for those they love, and I know they feel unspeakable pain when they lose the ones they love." Protoman said as the wind picked up and caused his scarf to flow. "Though I do know, that they recover from that pain with the help of others that are close to them."

" I see." Megaman said, looking at his Mega Buster. He scrolled and stared at the trident icon, showing the weapon configuration that Splash had given to him.

"Megaman, always understand that even though she is gone from this world, she is not gone from your memory. She will always be there, no matter what." Protoman said.

"Thanks brother, I think I understand now." Megaman said, as he looked up to see that his brother had vanished. "Just like him, never staying around." With that Megaman made his trek back to Dr. Light's lab.

Looking from a cliff, Protoman stared at his brother, "One thing to know brother, pain and grief do not last forever. Always remember that." And with that he vanished.

* * *

"I'm home everyone." Megaman said, entering the lab.

"Glad you're finally back. You know you had Roll worried?" said Tornado Man, as he twirled his fan on his arm.

"Tornado Man, since when did you get back up and running?" asked Megaman after he took off his helmet.

"Dr. Light spent all week getting us back up and running. He gave us a few upgrades too so we don't have to worry about being scrapped in the future." Tornado Man replied.

"Well where are the rest of them?" Megaman wondered as he went to the kitchen and took out an energy tank.

"Concrete Man went back to the construction area, Hornet Man's outside watering the flowers, Magma Man headed back to the Geothermal Plant, Plug Man's out shopping with Rush, Jewel Man was downstairs making something for Roll, and who knows where Galaxy Man went." Tornado Man replied. "As for me, I just stayed around for a while. The weather control station is still down."

"Right…" Megaman said. He was at least happy that they were all back up and running. That was when Roll and Jewel Man came back up to the living area.

"Megaman, you're back!" Roll said in excitement. "Look what Jewel Man made for me!" She started to show off the new gemstone earrings that she just received.

"Nice. Glad you like them Roll." Megaman replied. "And, I'm sorry if I worried you and everyone else."

"Oh it's ok. Dr. Light said you just needed some time to yourself. Let me go tell him you're back." Roll said, heading to the intercom. "Dr. Light, Megaman's back home."

"He is? Perfect. Send him downstairs. I need his help for something," replied the doctor." You, Tornado Man, and Jewel Man come as well."

"Ok, we'll be down in a minute." Roll answered. "Come on you guys, let's go."

Megaman just looked at the other two robots as neither said a word. "Alright we're coming."

The four headed downstairs to the lab where Dr. Light was finishing up a last minute project.

"Ah good you're back Megaman. I need you for a long term project." Dr. Light asked.

"What would that be Dr. Light?" asked the blue bomber. "I mean there's no major emergencies are there?"

"No, not at all. But I do need you to help my newest robot to start adjusting around here." Dr. Light said. "Ok you can come out now."

"New robot?" Megaman said to himself when Dr. Light's new robot walked out.

"So Megaman, what do you think of my new robot?" Dr. Light said. Obviously his question was answered when he saw the look on Megaman's face.

"That's….but…how!" Megaman stuttered out. He looked at the new robot, and couldn't believe his eyes. There was a new female robot in a light blue dress, similar to Roll's that showed off her legs. She had the same style of robotic shoes, and wore a short light blue scarf. Her shoulder length hair was only accented more by the two clips that were placed to keep her hair out of her face. Those clips added the finishing touch…they were in the shape of a trident. "Splash! You're alive!"

"I was called that once before…but my new name is Melody. You always did like my singing." Melody replied.

"Dr. Light, how in the world! I thought Wily's virus erased her core memory!" Megaman said in shock.

"It did. But after I disassembled her, I noticed a disc in her chest cavity. After checking it, I discovered that Splash made a backup of her core memory. It still had the virus, but I was able to destroy it. After that, I completely remodeled her body. Instead I built her just like I did you and Roll." Dr. Light said. "I take it you're happy with the results?"

"It's just that I…I thought she was gone forever!" Megaman replied. "Dr. Light, this is amazing."

"I said the same thing. But I do have to say this to you Megaman," said Melody as she took hold of his hand. "I wanted to say I'm sorry for what I did. Can you ever forgive me for fighting you?"

"Splash…I mean Melody, I already did. And…I know how you felt about me too." Megaman said to her.

"You…you do? But…" Melody said, wondering how he knew.

"I had a good talk with my older brother. Let's just say, you weren't the only one to feel that way." Megaman said. "It just took a little bit of time for me to realize that."

"Ok ok! Now that you two have that out of the way…" Roll said, as she took a small box from Jewel Man. She went over and gave it to Megaman, "Megaman, give her this. Melody, you kiss him for it, and then the two of you go to the beach."

"But what is…" Megaman said, opening the box. Inside was a blue sapphire necklace.

"When you have a robot that is really good with gemstones, you make good use of it!" Roll said with a smile.

"You do have a point." Megaman said, taking the necklace and placing it around Melody's neck.

"I must say, I think that looks quite good on you Melody." Dr. Light complimented.

"Doesn't it!" Megaman said, not noticing Melody moving in to kiss him. He then turned, only to have his lips meet hers. Megaman just paused while he received his very first kiss from the girl he thought he'd never see again.

"Ok, do I have to cool this place down?" asked Tornado Man as the two pulled the kiss apart.

"I don't' know, it was getting a little hot in here! Maybe Dr. Light should go get Iceman to freeze those two."

"Hey!" Megaman said as he blushed. Melody simply giggled at her newfound boyfriend. Megaman saw her and started laughing himself. "Well I guess we should do what Roll said and head to the beach."

"Yes, lets. I have missed singing for you and I can always sing my best when I'm by the ocean." Melody replied.

"Hey Rush!" Megaman called out. His faithful dog quickly rushed to him as he reached down and scratched the robo-dog's ears. "You up for a trip to the beach?"

"Arf!" Rush barked.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Hey boy, say hello to Melody." Megaman said. She kneeled down and scratched Rush's ears as well.

"Hi Rush!" said Melody as the robo-dog licked her cheek, showing his affection.

"Well we know he likes you." Megaman replied. "Ok boy, jet mode!"

"Arf!" Rush barked, and he transformed into his jet form.

"After you?" Megaman said, guiding Melody onto Rush. He stepped on himself and put his arm around Melody's waist. "Gotta make sure you don't fall off."

"Ugh, my brother…the perfect gentleman." Roll said as she rolled her eyes. "Just go out and have fun with your girlfriend ok!"

"Ok yeesh!" Megaman replied as Rush lifted off. He then turned and looked at his creator, "Thanks Dr. Light."

"Have fun you two." Dr. Light said as the three blasted off into the air. "I don't think I've ever seen him that happy. "

"Well, he lost the girl he loved, only to have her brought back." Roll said to the doctor. "But at least it shows he's becoming more and more human."

"As are you, and now Melody as well." Dr. Light said. "I think this will take my work to a brand new level, and someday all robots will be able to learn and become like humans. Just watching him go through the flood of emotions he's been through will help me further my research, and someday I'll make it so a robot will be able to think and make choices completely on their own, just as if they truly were human."

"Do you think Megaman, Melody, and I will be those robots?" asked Roll.

"You three are well on your way to becoming those robots." Dr. Light replied. "Now let's get Jewel Man and Tornado Man back to where they belong."

* * *

As for Megaman and Melody…

"So you really missed me?" asked Melody as the wind blew through her hair.

"You don't know how much. I was ready to actually kill Dr. Wily for what he did to you." Megaman answered her.

Melody was a little shocked, but she knew Megaman had his reasons. "You'll get him someday and finally stop his evil for good. And I'll be right there beside you to help you."

"Thank you Melody. But for now I'll keep fighting him and make sure this world is safe for everyone, including you." Megaman told her, as he tightened his grip.

Melody turned and looked back at the blue bomber, protector of all that is good, "You really are a hero, you know that. And I'm glad you my hero too. I love you Megaman."

"I love you too Melody." Megaman said to her as the two kissed once more.

* * *

**Yeah this was just a little oneshot short I came up with after beating Megaman 9, which I gotta say is an absolute awesome game! And I figure since Splash Woman actually sings in the game in the boss battle with her, why not have her do that as well. Plus her new name 'Melody' goes well with Megaman(Rock) and Roll.  
**


End file.
